Harvey and Ann Johnson didn’t wait to get settled before making changes at Amarillo’s Salvation Army.

The couple, who moved to town about a month ago from Galveston, are accustomed to being agile while helping the less fortunate.

“This is No. 17 in a series of events over 34 years,” Harvey Johnson said. “The Salvation Army moves us depending on what the need is. We’re another resource.”

Based on suggestions from staff and the couple’s own observations, the Johnsons already have made changes at Harrington Hope Center. A sign on an entrance door announces the new cooling center policy that lets the homeless escape the summer heat from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Another shift in policy allows residents to use enclosed courtyards to smoke instead of going outside the center.

“It’s safer, and they’re not finding a bottle they stashed or popping pills,” Harvey Johnson said. “Also, now they can keep their belongings here during the day instead of carrying a backpack and everything they own while looking for a job.”

Bicycle racks are set in a courtyard instead of on a sidewalk because people were cutting chains to steal the bicycles.

As the new Salvation Army majors in town, the Johnsons have extended their focus beyond the shelter’s walls. They’ve been in talks with established aid agencies such as the United Way of Amarillo & Canyon and the 2-1-1 Texas network and working on projects yet to be announced.

“We want to be open rather than closed, be attuned to being accessible,” Harvey Johnson said. “These are not our issues; they’re community issues.”

The Army not only provides shelter for the homeless, but help for those in difficult situations.

“Our administrative wing is where we help with social services, rent, utilities, prescriptions,” Ann Johnson said. “We try to keep people in their homes so they don’t become homeless.”

Other changes are coming, from turning a cinder block room with only a television, clock, sofa and stacked chairs into something closer to the lounge it’s supposed to be, to developing the volunteer network to boost both its numbers and the ways people can participate.

The kitchen and dining hall sit silent and dark in the middle of a weekday, but it’s a place where the action can get hectic when the center’s population is near its capacity of about 240 people.

“We serve 365 days a year, but everybody wants to help at Christmas and Thanksgiving,” Ann Johnson said.

It’s a place where connections can be made and clients can realize the community cares.

“How you serve food tells people what you think about them,” Harvey Johnson said.

“And it never hurts to have the church ladies bring desserts,” Ann Johnson said.

Some daily issues are simple.

A sign outside a bathroom says, “If you do not shower, you cannot stay.”

Other issues are not as simple.

Typically, stays are limited to 30 days, but that can change based on circumstances.

“We’re more flexible with women with children,” Harvey Johnson said.

“And with anyone, if you get to the Salvation Army, you’ve used all your resources. And if substance abuse is involved, they’ve burned all their bridges.”

Other issues are new. The federal Department of Veterans Affairs estimates veterans make up roughly a third of the homeless population.

“I don’t have to tell you what I think about that with my oldest son deployed in Afghanistan,” Harvey Johnson said.

The center is not just a place to be safe and escape the weather. It also offers clothes, medical attention, work and leisure activities as well as spiritual counseling and religious services.

For the Johnsons, it’s a labor of love and part of their bond.

“Thirty-five years married, and we work together every day,” Harvey Johnson said.

“Not every day,” Ann Johnson said. “I try to take one day off a week.”